And then, like a thread snapping, reality crumbles.

Darkness.

When she opens her eyes, Mrs. Elm is there, waiting for her.

—I don’t want to continue —Nora whispers.

The librarian looks at her gently.

—But do you want to die?

Nora opens her mouth, but she has no answer.

Borrowed lives aren’t hers. But neither was the one she left behind.

What does that mean? That she belongs nowhere?

Or worse… that she never did?

Fifth Part: The Fracture of Reality

Nora sits at the Library’s table, her head in her hands. She has traveled through so many lives that she no longer knows who she is. Every possibility has dragged her to a different place, but in all of them, she has felt like a shadow occupying a space that doesn’t belong to her.

—There is no right life for me —she whispers.

Mrs. Elm watches her from across the table, her fingers interlaced over a closed book.

—Maybe it’s not the life that’s wrong, Nora. Maybe you’re the one who doesn’t allow yourself to belong.

Nora lifts her gaze, her expression filled with anger.